For Safety
by InMyEyes2014
Summary: Emma Swan prepares to leave her family and loved ones to fight the Snow Queen. One-shot of my thoughts on the upcoming episode's photographs - some spoilers.


_**While the turkey is in the oven and my kids are still asleep, I banged this out. Guess I'm getting ready for Sunday's episode. Told from Killian's point of view, Emma is trying to prepare herself and her loved ones for the Snow Queen's curse. I own nothing. If I did, I wouldn't have had my hands buried in a bird trying to make dinner. **_

He wishes for a moment that he still had his ship, then he could scoop her up in his arms and escape the madness of a world that she claims to belong to but detests at the same time. He doesn't know where they would go, as his fantasies don't get that specific about it. He just wants sunshine and warmth, a perfect location where she will feel safe and secure. He doesn't know where that is, but he wants her to feel that way.

There are tears on her cheeks as she holds her baby brother, looking down at the soft face and swaying gently to soothe him. He's never asked her if she would want another child, but seeing her with her brother makes him realize that she probably does someday. She deserves to be happy and whatever it is that makes her smile is now his responsibility and duty. He doesn't care if people think he has become weak for his love of her. They are the unlucky ones who can't fathom the way that love can make you feel when it is true and right.

He watches her hand her brother back to her mother, kissing both on the cheek as she backs away from them. Earlier she had admitted she didn't know what to say, how to explain that she felt overwhelmed and out of her league. She is practically shaking, but she keeps her face strong. Except for a few tears on her cheeks that are already drying, she shows no sign of the turmoil within her. She is the Savior and already in that mode.

Her father embraces her, resting his chin on her head. He tells her gruffly that he would be happy to fight at her side. He's not one to run away. But Emma refuses him, as she always does when someone volunteers to help. She wants her family to be safe and with a curse coming, she has reasoned that they need to be kept away from the rest of the town. His smile shakes when she calls him dad, but he pulls it together to end the embrace and kiss her forehead.

Her mother and father walk toward the back of the station, already preparing themselves to stay overnight while their daughter fights. He notes that once again her father is the strong one, cradling wife and son in his arms to lead them away. Emma gets her strength from her father in some ways, but he also sees the stubbornness of her mother and the fighting spirit of both.

"I hate this," she tells him, lowering her forehead to his shoulder and snaking her arms around his middle. "I hate all of it."

With his cheek against her head, he nods and relishes the feeling of her in his arms for a second more. At any time she's going to pull away and tell him that she has to go. He's prepared for it, but he wants to delay it a little while. "Love, you're going to beat this," he tells her. "You're going to figure out a way to remove the ribbons and you're going to defeat the Snow Queen."

She pulls back from him, tilting her head so that she is looking in his eyes. "I have to," she says simply. "I have to fight to come back and be with you."

He wishes he had a moment to celebrate that one statement from her, as it is one of the times she has let him see that she wants to be with him. Usually she is angrier about her feelings, disappointed that she has let herself be vulnerable, nervous that he will somehow use them against her. She's started to apologize for that, but as he once told her on a beanstalk, he loves a challenge. "You will," he confirms.

She has moved a hand up to his chest, resting just above the empty cavity where his heart should be right now. He plucks it away, dropping a kiss on her knuckles and making her give one of her signature tight lipped smiles. He hopes she will realize his predicament, but now is not the time. She needs to concentrate on defeating the Snow Queen and freeing herself from that grasp. Maybe then they can deal with the Dark One.

"If anything happens," she begins, her glance briefly shifting to the other wall where her parents are still talking and her son is locked in the embrace of his other mother. He places a single finger to her lips and shakes his head.

"No," he tells her. "You're not going to burden me with that conversation. You're coming back." He smiles as she purses her lips to kiss his finger, a gesture that would have seemed impossible just a few days ago. She's trying, which is more than he ever thought possible.

"I need to go," she tells him as he pulled his hand away. "I don't want to…" She places both her hands on the sides of his face and pulls him into a kiss that tastes almost salty with her tears. As she goes to pull back, she seemingly changes her mind and crashes her mouth back into his.

Both of his arms around her waist, trying not to scare her by clinging. He can hear her father clear his throat and a frustrated groan from Regina, but he ignores them for a second or two more with his Swan. She might not be able to express in words what she was feeling, but she was trying to tell him of her fear, desperation, gratitude, and maybe even love with her caresses and kisses.

Pulling away, she looks flushed and a bit embarrassed that they have an audience. "You'll be safer here," she tells him. "You can watch after them."

"As you wish," he tells her. "Just as long as you promise to be safe."

She swallows hard and takes another step backward. Her eyes scan the room as though she is doing inventory. "I will be," she tells him. "Maybe when this is over we can have another date?"

He smiles at her, wishing that he could stop this moment for her. If he could, he would take her on as many dates as she would allow. Dinners, dancing, movies, or anything she wanted. He's figure out Netflix or just sit with her under the stars. She once said she worried that he would grow bored with her, but he would rather risk that than the idea that he'd lose her somehow. He's love a little boredom.

"We'll do anything you wish," he tells her, letting his fingers linger with hers for a moment longer. "I'll start planning it."

"Of course you will," she says with a sad chuckle. "The last one was pretty perfect. You'll have to work hard to outdo yourself." She pulls her hand away, the fingers still outstretched. "Be careful."

"I should be saying that to you," he mutters, turning his head when Henry barreled up and grabbed a hold of his mother.

Killian seats himself on her desk, watching mother and son say their final words. He wonders how many more times she would have to do this. How many times would she worry that she wasn't coming back to someone she loved. It hardly seemed fair that she kept that burden. As Henry slid back across the room, Killian watches her toss her bag over her shoulder and give a final pointed look to everyone in the room. He tries to smile again, but it is too much for him.

One by one she walks the room's occupants to enter the two cells. Her face is emotionless and her breathing controlled. But when she approaches him, she is shaking. "We have to remove this," she says to him, twisting the hook in its brace. He could say something suggestive, but he chooses another route and silently watches her detach it and place it across the room. Her hand on his back, she walks him over to one of the cells and mutters an apology.

"I'll be back soon," she tells everyone, lowering her eyes when she can no longer handle their sympathetic stares. "This won't last forever."

From his vantage point he sees her whispering and giving a short little wave as she and Elsa leave the station. Sinking down on the cot behind him, he wishes he had his ship. He wishes he could help her escape. But he knows she will succeed. She always does.

_**Thanks for reading**_


End file.
